The principles of this directive are reflected also in the new Water Law No. 184/2002 Coll., according to which the agglomerations from 2,000 to 10,000 equivalent inhabitants, which do not have a public sewage, are liable to ensure discharge of municipal waste water in compliance with the above Law (in practice it means to have a sewerage network and a waste water treatment station with required treatment effect) by December 31, 2015 and the agglomerations over 10,000 equivalent inhabitants by December 31, 2010.

ISPA According to the order of the EU Council No. 1267/1999, a tool was created for the purpose of providing funds for large investments to the environment and transport, which should be realised in the candidate countries prior to their accession to the EU. The ISPA (Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession) is aimed at mobilisation of the other sources of financing, from public and private sources to international financial institutions.

The provided support will be aimed at achievement of accord with the most costly directives applicable for the environment. This program supports large infrastructure projects over EUR 5 million, and the support from ISPA may reach even 75 % of the project costs.

The total allocation of the ISPA funds for the candidate countries represents EUR 1.040 billion per year. From this amount, Slovakia had the right to submit projects in the amount of EUR 36.4 to 57.2 million. According to the last report of the Ministry of Finance, the Slovak Republic is the most successful candidate country in programming the ISPA and submitting good quality projects.

During 2004 and 2006, the Slovak Republic should receive sources for consumption from the cohesion fund, in view of the poorly developed infrastructure (highways, railways, environment), as well as funds from the structural funds. According to the outcomes of accession negotiations in the summit held in Copenhagen in 2002, a package of EUR 1,764.87 million is allocated to the Slovak Republic for the years 2004 – 2006, including EUR 1,187.61 million for structural funds and EUR 577.26 million for the cohesion fund.

The Slovak Government decided by its Resolution No. 46/2003 that most funds shall be oriented to the European Fund for Regional Development: 42.62 %, in view of necessary development of transport, increased investments, and productivity of work. For the Slovak Republic, as well as for the other new member states it means that they will have available sources of funds which may be used for improvement of the situation in the environment.

Information & Contact:

Ing. Marek Sokáč, PhD.,
Ing. Katarína Tóthová, PhD.,
Slovak University of Technology
Faculty of Civil Enginewering, Bratislava,
Department of Medical Engineering